Roman's place was trash. And not just because Neo came from a rich family.
He lived in a small flat in the poorest part of Vale. The interior was well maintained but you could tell it used to be the rats' favorite place.
The furniture was quite simple. In one of the two rooms was a simple king sized matress on the floor in one of its corners, with a suitcase filled with clothes on the other side of the room.
In the second room was a simple kitchen, with nothing more than a stove and a fridge, and a dinner table. In a corner was what seemed like a small workshop with its shelves full of crystals. Neo curiously observed them.
Dust [AP 50/50] (Fire, processed) : Dust is the physical manifestation of a dead person's soul. Once someone dies they'll slowly turn to Dust and that Dust will slowly accumulate until it becomes a crystal. Each crystal has its own element, this one being Fire. Processed Dust is prefered by Huntsmen because of it's stability
Neo fiddled with the crystal, Roman watching over her with a smile. Neo then swung the crystal, imagining it to be a fire sword that would burn her opponents. She was interrupted by a popup.
[You are unable to do this action. Processed Dust needs Aura to be activated]
Reading it, Neo pouted and threw the crystal away, Roman barely catching it.
" Hey ! What did the crystal do to you ? " he asked mockingly.
Neo pouted some more and ignored him, before moving towards the dining table and sitting down. It was very late but she was hungry.
Roman sighed and looked into his cupboards to see if he had anything. He grabbed some bread and gave it to her.
" Sorry, I don't have much honestly. Didn't expect company." he said.
Neo sized him, then the bread, and finally shrugged, deciding it was better than nothing and eating it. She used the time to observe the weird cane Roman had.
Melodic Cudgel : A weapon made to look inconspicuous, the perfect tool for a criminal.
Proficiency bonus : 3
Enhancement : 1 to attack rolls and damage.
Melee damage : 1d6
Range damage : 1d8
Skills :
Hook, line and sinker [The built in hook inside this weapon can grab anything in a range of up to ten meters, garanteed hit once per day]
It's also a gun [Well duh, nothing is better than a gun. This weapon has a built in cannon that lets it shoot Dust powered shots. The user is immune to collateral damage from the shots made by this weapon]
Roman was a bit uncomfortable with Neo, and not just because she still held onto the knife she had used to kill the Huntsman.
" Kid, how long do you plan on keeping that thing ? " he asked, pointing to the knife, blackened by blood, resting in her left hand.
Neo looked at the knife, surprised, as she hadn't realized that she had kept holding on to it. She slowly put it down on the table as she finished her meal, and slowly backed away. She looked at herself, for she was also covered in dried blood, and looked a bit disgusted.
" Glad to see you back on earth kiddo." said Roman with a short laugh, " You can get into the shower to clean yourself, I'll give you one of my shirts for the night and we'll see about buying you new clothes tomorrow."
She nodded thanksfully and went to take a shower. As the water runned down her body she couldn't help but be taken aback by the surreality of it all.
Her parents were dead, she had followed an unknown man to his home, even though he had saved her life. She had a weird Semblance that gave her tons of informations, the man who had killed her parents had tried to kill her, she killed him instead, and she enjoyed it.
She held her knees and cried, cried every single tear she could muster. She was eventually interrupted by a knock as Roman lightly opened the door to the bathroom and layed down a shirt on the ground.
Neo slowly stopped crying and finished cleaning herself. She then dried herself before putting on the shirt. It was way to big for her, but that meant it worked like a robe. The sleeves were too long too, but she liked the feel of the fabric on her skin.
She opened the door and walked out. Roman found her to be adorable in that white shirt, but didn't comment on it.
" You can take the bed, I have some stuff to do and we'll talk about what you want to do in the morning." he told her.
Neo nodded, she was feeling sleepy, and she dropped on the bed, to a dreamless night.
The following morning, Neo woke up groggily and walked out of the bedroom. She found Roman asleep on a chair, his face drooling on the table. She decided not to wake him up yet and opened the cupboards to see what she could get for breakfast.
There really wasn't anything. Some coffee, some olive oil and vinegar next to spices. The bread he gave her the day before must have been a miraculous find, if the emptiness of the cupboards were anything to go by.
She opened the fridge and found it as empty as the cupboards, with only a bit of butter that probably felt very lonely.
She frowned. But she was a dignified lady. She wasn't going to wake Roman up yet and whine because of a lack of food.
She didn't know what to do though, so she proceeded to play with her sleeves for the better part of the next hour. She was finally interrupted by Roman as he woke up, and she jumped next to him excitedly, waiting for food.
" Uhhh. I shouldn't have stayed up so late." he said, still half asleep, before seeing Neo was up, " Good morning kiddo. I'll go out to grab you some clothes and I'll treat you to a real breakfast at a café. You ok with that ? "
Neo nodded and sat back on her chair, upright and dignifyingly waiting to be served. Roman couldn't help but chuckle at the sight before leaving the house.
" I'll be back soon, don't get into trouble." he said.
As promised, Roman soon came back with a set of clothes for Neo. They weren't the perfect size, but it was good enough. They then went outside to a café and ate breakfast.
Roman had taken a simple expresso and a croissant, while Neo had taken a pile of pancakes with syrup and vanilla ice-cream. Roman had grumbled at the price but still let her take it.
" So, kiddo, what do you want to do now ? " he asked.
Neo looked him in the eyes before opening her mouth, then closing it, then opening it again as though she wanted to speak. She soon realized she wasn't able to and slumped back into her pancakes.
" I'll just give you the options and you can nod if you want it ok ? " said Roman.
Neo nodded.
" Well, first, we could get you back to the authorities. Since you told me you didn't have any relatives you'll probably be sent to an orphanage, but you'll be able to get your inheritance once you're old enough." he started.
Neo shook her head. She didn't know exactly why, but she dreaded that option.
" Second, I can ask a friend of mine to find you some lodging and take on your inheritance. You're a bit young to live on your own, but who am I to judge." he continued.
Neo seemed to consider the option, but still signaled him to continue.
" Finally, we can simply try to find someone you like that can take care of you, inheritance or not." he finished.
Neo seemed interested by that option, but still signaled she was hesitating between options 2 and 3.
" It's fine. We'll pay my friend a visit and see how it goes."
Neo nodded and finished her breakfast.
Roman led her to a club, The Club, and entered. It was the middle of the day, so there wasn't anybody outside of some staff. At the bar was a young burly man sporting a beard.
" Junior, my pal, how are you doing." said Roman happily.
" Much better if you weren't there." grumbled Junior, " What do you want this time."
" Now, now, I knew you missed me. I've had a bad luck at my last heist and had to save some little rich girl from a crazy dude that was trying to kill her. I was hoping you could help me find her a way to live, or someone to take care of her." said Roman.
Neo pouted and kicked Roman's leg. The burly man looked above his counter and saw the little girl.
" Well fuck. That's the little miss Politan." he said surprised.
" You know her ? " asked Roman.
" Well of course. She's the daughter of the biggest crime boss of Vale." he answered, before noting Roman's story, " Did you try to steal from the biggest criminal organisation in all of Vale without knowing what you were getting yourself into ? "
" Maybe ? " said Roman sheepishly.
" Well, you both are lucky then. You would have died early if you had managed to steal anything from them, and the little miss would be in the middle of a civil war between the different factions that would want to use her as a puppet to gain power." said Junior.
" Yikes." shot Roman.
" You can say that. That means, however, that she cannot be seen by anyone. You'll have to hide her until someone gets a hold of the organisation or it all comes falling down."
" What about her inheritance ? " asked Roman.
" Once it all dies down, there won't be any left." answered Junior.
Roman turned around towards Neo.
" Well, you heard the guy. Guess you're stuck with me for a while." said Roman.
Neo seemed quite pleased by that.
The rest of the week passed as Neo was stuck inside of Roman's home. He had bought a new bed for her and the cupboards were a bit less empty.
She had convinced Roman to let her buy some clothes before they went back that day, and even managed to surprise him with a magic trick she had learned. She really liked magicians and worked really hard to learn their tricks.
Roman had given her money to let her pay for her own clothes, and when it was time to pay he lifted her up on the checkout desk, next to the cash register. She gave the lien to the cashier who was gushing at how adorable she was.
The cashier counted the lien happily as she let Neo fumble with it. When it was time for her to put the lien in the cash register, she failed to realize a few of the cards were missing as Neo had swiped them after she had counted them.
When they left the store, Roman was speechless as she saw her play with three of the most valuable lien cards he had given her to pay with.
" I guess you're not the daughter of a crime boss for nothing." he said with a smirk.
Neo smirked back.
One day, Neo was playing with the Dust crystals while Roman was away when she had an idea. She had learned that unprocessed Dust was volatile and could easily explode on contact, so she wanted to try and activate the processed one she had.
She took a crystal and smashed it as hard as she could on the small workshop. Nothing happened, so she kept smashing it down until a popup appeared.
[Through repeating an action you are starting to learn a skill]
Smash (1.3% learnt) [Smashing a blunt object down is the simplest form of fighting, but that doesn't mean you can't do it in style. Strength against AC. Deals 1[W] plus Strength modifier damage]
[Congratulations, you are starting to learn your first skill. Repeating an action or following instructions will allow you to progress in your learning process. Once learnt, you will be able to use the skill]
[In a combat skill, one part will always tell you which stat you will be using against which defense, while another will tell you how much damage you will deal if you hit. 1[W] means you will deal your weapons damage once]
Neo grew curious, and spent the rest of the day smashing the Dust crystal in her hand to learn her new skill, forgetting why she was doing it in the first place.
Roman came back home that day to an exhausted Neo holding a Dust crystal in her hand. The workshop had a small dent in it, but he ignored it. Neo was grinning, she had finally learnt the skill. Roman approached and Neo decided to test her new skill on him, smashing the red crystal on his leg. He yelped as he felt his aura lower a little from the hit.
-1 AP
Neo wasn't too happy with the result, but she was too exhausted to complain. Her mission accomplished, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. Roman picked her up and gently placed her in her bed.
The following day, Neo had remembered what she had wanted to do and tried to ask Roman for some unprocessed Dust. After many gestures, guesswork and puppy eyed powered pleading, Roman relented and promised to come back with some.
Neo spent the better part of the day playing with some cards Roman had around. She wanted to try the card tricks she had so often seen when she was still with her parents.
She took the deck in her hand and moved the cards around. She worked on her dealing and shuffling. She worked on hiding the cards in her hands, although her hands were still too small to acheive it completly.
When Roman came back with the promised Dust, finding Neo dealing the cards expertly gave him the brightest of ideas.
" Come on guys, are you already chickening out ? " said Roman, cards in hand.
He had invited Junior and some other friends to play some poker at his place. Neo had wanted to deal the cards and nobody found any problem with it.
Too bad for them, because Neo and Roman had a plan. Neo was always making sure to let Roman know if she had given him a good or a bad hand compared to the other players. Roman then played accordingly, making sure he wasn't too suspicious while winning as much cash as possible.
Halfway into the night, the other players were starting to feel something was wrong, but as they couldn't figure it out they were thinking about leaving.
" We're criminals Roman. Chickening out of a bad situation is what we do, and this feels like a very bad situation for my wallet." said Junior.
" Come on. What's wrong ? I can even play without my hands and let Neo show me the cards if you're so worried." shot back Roman.
Junior narrowed his eyes, but couldn't see the trick. Nobody here thought for even a moment that Neo was the one doing the cheating.
" Fine. But lets grab some more booze first." Junior finally relented.
Roman's wallet grew three sizes that night.
This day was the day Neo was looking forward to. It was the day she would be able to try to use Dust. Roman was gone early, as usual, and she had the entire flat to herself. Once she finished her breakfast, a bowl of Pumpkin Pete cereals, she rushed excitedly towards the small workshop, and most importantly the small vials Roman had brought back with him.
The small vials were filled with powder, some red, some blue, some yellow some black and all other colors. She took a vial filled with yellow Dust and poured a bit on her hand before observing it.
Dust AP[5/5] (Lightning, Powdered) : Lightning Dust cause electricity. Powdered Dust is the most unstable of all Dust types, but it doesn't hold much power. It is mostly used when fine tuning is necessary as its quantity can be more easily controlled.
Neo closed her hand in a fist and imagined herself punching lightning. It didn't do anything at first, but she knew she had to repeat an action before it could have a chance of working.
After a few tries, the Dust in her hand ignited and an arc of electricity went from her hand to the ground. However, most of the Dust's power went through her, and the pain made her scream.
-3 HP
Your HP has fallen to 0
Rolling for last breath
Roll successful
Falling Unconscious...
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 5
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Title : The Gamer
HP : 0/2 (Unconscious)
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 2
CON : 2
DEX : 2
INT : 2
WIS : 3
CHA : 2
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transfered to your aura]
Classless [You do not have a Class. You cannot gain levels or experience until you chose/gain one]
Fighting for your life [Your aura behaved in the only way that would let you survive, and will continue to do so until you overcome your trauma. You cannot use aura, but you can will any item you wield for it to reflect 100% of any attack that hits it]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 6
For : 7
Ref : 7
Will : 7